Prior art diesel-electric locomotives typically include energy management systems to maximize the operating efficiency of the locomotive as it travels along its scheduled route. Currently, these energy management systems include an energy storage system for selectively storing and transferring secondary electrical energy while the locomotive propels along a track route. Such secondary electrical energy augments a source of primary electrical energy, particularly at track locations of high energy demand on the locomotive, thereby ensuring that the locomotive meets such demands and completes its route around the track.
Current energy management systems calculate the necessary storage and transfer energy amounts of the energy storage system at spaced time intervals around the track route, based upon track topographic information at each time interval, locomotive weight, and efficiency ratings, among other factors. These energy management systems further assesses upcoming energy demands and uses such assessments to ascertain the appropriate time to store and transfer secondary electrical energy to meet such demands. Thus, current energy management system engage in complex computation involving track topographic information and locomotive characteristics at each spaced time interval as the locomotive progresses around the track, in order to compute the necessary storage and transfer energy amounts for the energy storage system, for maximum operating efficiency.
Accordingly, there is a need for an automated energy management system to provide the necessary storage and transfer energy of the energy storage system, without the need to engage in complex computation involving track topographic information, or to reduce the complexity of such computations involving track topographic information.